I Don't Like You
by Nukelele
Summary: Gale Hawthorne is strong. He can take anything. Well, he thinks he can, until he gets a new boss. She's smart, witty, stubborn, independent and to make it worse, she's only five feet tall. He's frightened to death he's going to fall in love with her.
1. Chapter One: Stupid

And then, he saw her. No, he didn't just see her, he stared at her. He just blatantly stared at her. She commanded attention and he knew at once who this woman was. She was the new boss, the new head of command, the new lead and she was only five foot tall.

She stepped confidently and in long strides after she stepped out of the elevator onto the floor where her new employees worked. She had crazy blonde curly hair that went everywhere, the only unruly thing about her, and sea foam green grey eyes that screamed smartness and independence. Her outfit consisted of a white blazer which he thought was completely impractical seeing as they were working in the military where things tended to get dirty, a red shirt, a black pencil skirt, wedge heels which only barely helped her height issue and, it seemed she was wearing, was that? No, couldn't be, blue, ripple earrings that matched the sea and moved when she walked? That was not it.

She had a tall coffee in her hand and everything about her screamed "CAPITOL" even now that the war was over Gale Hawthorne still despised everything about that wretched place. He didn't let go of grudges easily. She smiled one of the fakest smiles he had ever seen and said, surprisingly without a capitol accent "Hi everybody! Come over here so I can introduce myself!" and gestured to herself, smiling even harder now.

Even a completely socially inept person would know, she was not good with people. Great, all Gale needed was a bitchy boss.

The people on the floor who were awaiting their arrival slowly filtered over to her, unsure of what to do or where to go. She was intimidating, one false move and who knows what she'd do. _She doesn't scare me_ Gale thought to himself but as he drew nearer, he was a little frightened. But, you know, just a little bit because NOTHING in this world could possibly scare Gale Hawthorne. She was just a five foot tall girl with crazy hair and ocean wave earrings.

She tried to smile again before giving up, sighing and standing up on a chair so she could get level with all the men and women she faced and now, employed. It hurt her pride a bit to have to stand up on the chair, Gale could see it in her eyes but all of a sudden she was back and confident as ever. Gale loathed her.

"Hi everyone!" She began "My name is Ennelle Sedikit and I am now your new boss. I grew up in District Four, I like Italian food, by favourite colour is blue and I expect the best from all of you" Gale swore she looked at him for a moment "I will be in my office throughout the day if you need me but I suggest you don't leave your training centres as you will be started a new course today" This was met by a chorus of tired groans to which she glared and cleared her throat "WHICH, will in turn, give you a chance to become more prepared for hand to hand combat and also firing from a long distance. So, let's go everybody! Group A to training centre 13-C, Level C, take the elevator. Group B, you will report to training centre B-A in the basement and meet up with your new leader and I'd like Group Gale Hawthorne to join me in my office for a little chat. Alright, hop to it!"

Gale groaned at the thought of being in a room with this woman for a chat but as the Group A's headed for the elevator and the Group B's headed down a flight of stairs he found he was alone with that woman anyway so he might as well follow her into his office. If she was as bitchy as she came off, it'd probably be best for him to try to get on her good side. Problem was, Gale was never good at that. Apparently, neither was she.

She tried to smile at him again and led him over to a big oak door which still bore the name of the previous owner, Benry Rena. She muttered under her breath "I'll have to get that changed" as she opened the door to the office.

Gale missed Benry, or as they'd call him, Ben already. His laid back attitude, his carefree ways, his fight in him when he needed it but only when he needed it and never else was definitely missed around and the presence of this woman was clearly less than enjoyable.

Gale walked into the room and even though he didn't like the way she just threw her coffee cup in the waste bin or how she strode over to the desk so independently, he liked what he saw. The room was blue, well, that's what Gale thought until he looked closely and realized the walls were blue at the bottom and faded to a green on the top. The floor was hardwood and smelled like forest, the ceiling a light blue, resembling the sky. The window was open and light blue drapery fell over the sides of it. It smelled like the ocean. At least, that's what Gale thought it was. He could never be sure. He never smelled the ocean often.

"Sit" she said, devoid of emotion and again, used that stupid hand motion to gesture to him to sit down.

His smile left his face and was replaced by an indifferent expression, one he used to suppress anger. After all, he should have gotten this job, this should be his office and she should be his employee. Ben said he had put a good word in for him, why didn't he get the job? Still, he sat. He slowly made his way over to the desk before plunking his bottom down on the seat and sighing "What do you want?" he asked, frustrated.

She seemed a bit taken aback but she didn't say anything about it and covered it up really quickly "I just wanted to know why you don't like me, that's all" She asked intently, her face still completely masked and free from any sign of anger, hurt, sadness, happiness, confusion, her face read nothing.

Gale thought in his mind _Oh oh oh, where to start?_ But when he went to voice his reasons for hating this woman so much he drew a blank. He had only met her about seven minutes ago and he already loather her with the fire of a thousand burning suns but still, he managed to say, clearly and calmly "I don't like the way you walk"

Ennelle laughed a bit "You don't like the way I walk? Would you rather me walk like a duck? Or a penguin? Or maybe a squirrel?"

This set Gale right off "Because of your stupid capitol and because you guys got EVERY thing you wanted us district twelvers had to LIVE off squirrels! And when we had squirrels we were lucky! You got everything! EVERYTHING!" He yelled at her.

He stood up, in complete rage and reached out, grabbed a glass off her desk and crushed it with his bare hand "You don't understand"

"Gale!" she shouted as he finally realized the searing pain throughout his hand. Okay, so maybe breaking the glass wasn't the best of ideas. Hell, it was down there with telling his new boss he lived off squirrels for 18 years.

She scurried out the door, probably to seek some kind of towel or something to soak up the blood and Gale just sat there, mulling over the events of the morning. Why did he hate her exactly? He didn't know. And what kind of name is Ennelle anyway? It's stupid and silly sounding and probably some district four thing because they were all a bunch of weirdo weaklings. Then he thought of Finnick and Annie and Mags and regretted thinking that immediately. He thought a _Sorry guys_ before she came back in with a towel in her hands and a few band-aids.

Gale didn't like band-aids. They made him feel trapped, like they were part of his body he didn't want there. Not to mention they hurt like hell when you rip them off. He tells her this immediately "I don't like band-aids"

She looked at him for a second, sizing up the situation before saying "You're wearing them, I don't want you bleeding everywhere" and then she moved towards him, took his hand in hers and started dabbing off the blood.

There must have been some disinfectant in there because whatever was on that towel made Gale's hand feel instantly better. He couldn't help but notice her hands were incredibly soft. It must be from all that seaweed. Or maybe fancy lotions she bought from the Capitol. Gale decided he liked the other better, it let him hate her more.

"What the hell kind of name is Ennelle anyway?" He voiced his second question and she looked up at him and smiled.

_Oh great_ He thought _A story about how her parents decided that they'd name their child the most stupid name in the history of stupid names ever. Even more stupid than Peeta, who is a great guy with a stupid, STUPID name. _"You know all about North America right? Before it became Panem?" she asked him and he just looked at her.

"Of course I do. Do you think I'm stupid or what?" He retaliated before she shot back "Well, breaking a glass with your bare hand is kind of stupid, don't you admit?"

He had that one coming. He thought of something else to say while she dabbed at his hand and started applying the band-aids before realized he couldn't think of anything else and just said "Continue"

"Well" she began "A small province in Canada, a country in North America was called Newfoundland and Labrador, or NL. My ancestors came from there. If you say Ennelle, it sounds like NL so my parents named me that to remind me of my heritage. I wish I could visit there. I wish it wasn't destroyed. All of the journals and pictures and videos show how beautiful it was. An island, fishing was popular there, like in District Four. It was filled with forests and lakes and friendly people and..." She drifted of thinking of this place while Gale just stood there, looking down at her.

That's it, Newfoundland took the cake for the stupidest name ever. Very creative, New-Found-Land, is that all they could come up with?

Before long she had all of the band-aids on his hands and he had stopped bleeding. "Now, is there any other reason why you dislike me?" She looked up at him and asked, her usual, cold, emotionless self.

"I dislike you because you think you own the place" Gale said stubbornly as his hands formed into fists, resisting the urge to throw the band-aids off his hands because he didn't want to show her that he was weak.

He could handle a few band-aids. She turned cold as ice, fury mounting in her eyes when she looked up at him with the most fierce expression Gale had ever seen on a girl. "Well, Mister Hawthorne, it may have slipped under your notice but I DO run this place" She said, her voice made of ice and her office must have dropped ten degrees, Gale felt it. He just said "Well, I don't like you"

Gale left the office that day, feeling worn out from training and worn out from the exchange with his new boss this morning. It wasn't until he sat on his couch that evening until he realized why he hated her so much. She reminded him of a more professional version of Katniss and he was afraid he was actually going to fall in love with her. He had to remember what he had told her earlier to let himself sleep. He had to remember when he looked her in the eye and said "I don't like you"


	2. Chapter Two: Stubborn

It had been six weeks since Ennelle Sedikit had started working at the John Martin Military Base and every night she'd come home horribly exhausted and frustrated because, even though all of her other co-workers had warmed up to her quite a bit (It took a while to look past the tough, bossy exterior) Gale Hawthorne was still as difficult as ever.

He insisted everything would be done his way and his way only and everything had to exceed his expectations. She sometimes wondered if he remembered that she was the boss. He probably didn't.

It had been a long day. Ennelle was sitting at home, the television was on and she had a thick book in her hands that she was about a quarter way through. A long, skinny bookmark with her name scrawled on it in fancy handwriting peeked out from the top of the book. The remains of a store bought lasagne were in the fridge and there were dishes in the sink, ready to be washed. She didn't have the energy to do them now. The whole apartment was silent.

"BRING!" Her cell phone rang. Startled by the sudden noise Ennelle jumped up of the couch in surprise and her book landed on the floor with a soft thump, the bookmark sliding out between the pages.

She jammed her hand in her pocket, wondering who might be calling her and hauled it out of her pocket with so much force she almost flung it across the room. She startled too easily. She looked at her phone and Mr. Daskon's face lit up the screen. Her heart stopped.

Mr. Daskon was the General, he was her boss. She wondered why he would be calling her before she decided it would be best to answer it.

"Hello" she said confidently.

She even surprised herself with how well she could act confidently sometimes, even when she was frightened out of her wits.

"Ms. Sedikit" he said in an official tone, his version of a greeting.

Not much scared Ennelle, Mr. Daskon did. "What seems to be the problem, sir?" she asked him, still hiding her nervousness.

"Oh no, no problem, just we need a new weapon designed and we thought your team would be the best for the job" he said, still in the flattest, most monotone voice Ennelle had ever heard.

"Sure! Yeah, we can do that!" she said pretending to be excite, she didn't like designing.

Using the weapons was more her thing. "Great. We will need an ensnaring device for catching the last few stray mutts roaming around in the woods of Panem. Assemble a team of you and two others to lead this project. The whole of the office will be needed for testing and checking. I suggest you recruit Gale Hawthorne for this, he's good with snares. Have a nice night" He informed her of the mission before she had any time to protest about having to work with Gale.

She immediately knew who was going to lead this mission. Her, her good friend Lily and... Gale. She debated for a few seconds if she would call them now, or wait until tomorrow at the office. Since it was only seven thirty she decided to call them now.

She dialled Lily's number in record time. In the six weeks she had worked in the office she had befriended Lily quite quickly. She was energetic and friendly without being careless, just what Ennelle wanted in a friend.

"Hi!" Lily's voice jumped through the phone line louder and faster than a jet plane.

Ennelle held the phone at an arm's length and said "Hi Lily! Guess what!"

"What?" She replied enthusiastically.

"I just got a call from Mr. Daskon. We have to design a new snare and he told me to find a group of three to lead it! I'm obviously one of them, you want to?" Ennelle asked her smiling, one can't NOT smile when they're around or speaking to Lily.

"Sure, definitely! Who is the other person?" She asked curiously.

"Um, he told me to have Gale" Ennelle said slowly because she knew how Lily felt about Gale.

"Gale? He's such a party pooper! Can't you have anyone else?" she asked sadly, Ennelle could hear it in her voice that she was frowning.

"Well, if I like having my job and my limbs it's probably best to do what Mr. Daskon says" Ennelle said with a little laugh, trying desperately to lighten the mood because a sad Lily is just wrong.

Lily giggled lightly and said "I suppose. Maybe we could make him a little more fun now that's you're significantly less intimidating"

"Yes, being five feet tall is so scary!" Ennelle said with a little chuckle "I've got to go call him. See you tomorrow!"

"Bye En!" Lily said happily and Ennelle heard the soft beep meaning her best friend had hung up her end of the line.

Ennelle sat back down and thought of how she would call Gale. What would she say to him? He clearly didn't like her. She could kind of understand it for the first week or so but everyone else warmed up to her so why couldn't he? She sighed in frustration and picked up her cell phone.

"Call Gale Hawthorne" Ennelle said clearly and concisely into the microphone as she mentally prepared herself for the awkward conversation that was sure to come.

Her phone hesitated a bit, almost as if it was asking her if she was sure she wanted to do this, before starting to ring. She held it to her ear, breathing quickly. It rang five times before a deep, slightly hoarse voice answered "Hello"

She was momentarily dumbstruck. She always wondered why Gale made her falter. Nothing made her falter except him. She regained her composure and said "Hi" shortly.

After an extremely awkward pause that seemed to last a millennium he just said "Hi" and she remembered why she was calling and felt kind of stupid.

"I just got a call from Mr. Daskon. We've been assigned a project. We have to design a new snare and since you're really good at them I thought maybe you'd like to lead the project with me and Lily" She said hopefully because she really wanted to make Mr. Daskon happy by having him on the team.

"Don't you think I have enough to work on with that new training program you assigned then made me miss the instructions" He said bluntly and she just sat there, a bit dumbstruck.

"Well, I thought you'd be caught up by now. Are you sure? You'd be a real asset to the team" She tried to reason with him, negotiate.

"Of course I am caught up" he started but she cut him off with "Then you don't have too much on your plate then?"

It was his turn to feel dumbstruck. Ennelle could hear it in the emptiness over the phone line "Well, I suppose..." he said finally and Ennelle felt a bit successful.

"So, are you in?" She asked him smiling to herself a bit, Mr. Daskon would be so ecstatic!

"Yeah, I guess so" He accepted and Ennelle felt sky high, his voice, however, was empty.

"Great, see you tomorrow at work then?" She asked, trying at least to be nice.

The rest of the office liked her now, she just needed one more person. It just so happened that this person was the most stubborn person she had ever met. "Sure... Ennelle?" He said her name which caught her off guard a bit but she responded with a "Yes?"

"I still don't like the way you walk, but now I can live with it" He said plainly but she smiled a bit anyway "That's good. Bye Gale" She said into the phone because Gale was starting to like her a bit, she could tell.

"Bye Ennelle" He said a bit happily and hung up his end.

Ennelle flopped back on the couch and thought about Gale. Why was she so excited she had him on the lead team? Sure, Mr. Daskon would be happy but there was another reason she was happy she couldn't quite put her finger on yet. She collapsed in bed that night, feeling worn out from the day and confused. Her brain wasn't telling her why she was happy. It was being rather stubborn.


	3. Chapter Three: Sleepy

Gale got up the nest morning to the sound of his alarm clock going off on his bedside table. He reached out to slam the snooze button like he did every morning only to realize it wasn't there. He was sleepy. Then he remembered, last week he was an hour late to work thanks to that horrible but oh-so-tempting button so Ennelle had bought him a new alarm clock and this clock must have been made by the devil himself.

The clock, when it rang (Or buzzed, chirped and whirred) rolled off his bedside table and raced around his room at lightning speed. If the ear-splitting noise wasn't enough to wake him up, the wild goose chase all over his room at six in the morning would.

He cursed Ennelle under his breath before rolling out of his bed, landing with a thump on his floor, jumping up and starting to look for the nuisance Ennelle had named "Beepy".

It wasn't long before he spotted it, rolling straight for his closet door. Without a second to lose he lunged for it and caught it in his hands right before it rolled over the threshold and into his closet. His closet floor was covered in clothes. He'd never be able to find it in there.

"Gotcha" He shouted as he hit the off button and it finally stopped moving and causing a racket.

He was faintly reminded of hunting back in District 12, the woods and Katniss. He stopped thinking about that immediately.

He didn't like thinking about District 12 so he didn't allow himself to ponder it much but sometimes it came back to him in nightmares. Hunting with Katniss, the reapings, THE reaping, wondering if he could put his family through the next year, falling asleep hungry and scared. Nope, he was not going to think of that.

He set the clock back on the bedside table and lumbered out to the bathroom, still half asleep. He relieved himself and went over to the sink to brush his teeth. He looked at his reflection in the mirror; his reflection in the mirror looked back at him. He still looked the same as he did when he was sixteen, though, when he was sixteen he looked like he should have been the age he is now, twenty three. He hit six feet tall at 14 and he estimated he was around 6'3" now. He was still muscular. He was still strong. He was still Gale. Same brown hair, same grey eyes, same Gale even though he had changed a lot since he was sixteen.

He brushed his teeth quick and brushed his hair. It was getting too long so he made a mental reminder to get it cut soon. Gale always knew his hair was getting too long when the piece, right at the crown, sticks right up and refuses to behave and stay put down where it belongs.

It was then he remembered he was still half naked and only in his boxers so he trod back to his bedroom and into the state of a closet he had. Gale was not a messy guy, his closet was. He never knew why only his closet was messy. An onlooker would know though. He has a habit of, when searching for a certain shirt or pair of pants he will dump the other articles of clothing on the floor. So, even though all of his dirty clothes ended up in the hamper, Gale never sees his closet floor.

He grabbed a pair of plain jeans and a white tee shirt. He'd change into his uniform at work. Gale walked out of his room, smiled a bit at the picture of his family who were currently rebuilding district twelve. He walked slowly out to his kitchen, trying to picture the look on Rory's face when he was thinking. Or remembering how Posy would always knock four times before entering a room. He missed them terribly but he'd visit district 12 some other time. Maybe he'd even visit Katniss and Peeta.

He poured himself a bowl of cereal and strode over to sit down on his couch. His kitchen and his living room were joined and he definitely liked it better this way. It was more convenient and he didn't have to walk far to get food when he was watching TV. He said "Turn on TV" and the screen came to life almost immediately.

He hated technology but he had to admit, it was quite useful sometimes. He watched some show called something about a republic but it wasn't that interesting. It was basically this guy who was a detective with his dad and his niece had something going on with his... Employee? He wasn't really paying attention. Long story short, he got shot, kissed some girl and talked in a stupid accent like everyone else on the show. He finished his cereal and brought the bowl over to the sink. He placed it gingerly in the basin and checked his watch. It read 7:12. Perfect, he could get to work early and show En that he could be punctual.

Did he just call her "En" like the rest of the office that had suddenly warmed up to her? He thought she could have been bribing them. No, she was not "En", she was "Ennelle" or simply "My boss". Not "En". He shoved on a pair of plain white shoes and headed out the door towards the elevator.

He pressed the down button and waited. He didn't like waiting so he pressed it again, and again. Eventually the doors opened and he stepped inside, pressed the "Main Floor" button and waited again. He was alone in the elevator except for a little girl, maybe seven, with red pigtails and a pink dress. She was smiling, somewhat distantly and Gale remembered seeing this girl around the apartment building, always off in her own little world.

"I love elevators" She said suddenly and Gale looked at her surprised.

"Really?" He asked, he hated elevators and he had never heard this girl speak before, he assumed she was very shy.

"Yes, I could just go up and down on them all day! But I do not think my mother would like that very much. I have to go to school most days" She said, still off in her own world but obviously talking to Gale as he was the only other person in the elevator.

"Do you like school?" He asked, wondering what to say because he was kind of stuck on what to do.

"No, not usually, the other children tease me quite a bit" She said still in her dreamlike state and Gale saw her fingers twitch oddly.

"Oh, that's too bad" He said shortly and then the doors opened to the main lobby and he got off the elevator and into his car.

The drive to work was relatively short. He was at the front doors of the building at 7:41 and he didn't have to be there until 8:30. Ennelle was going to be so surprised and then she'll realize he should have gotten the job. Gale smiled to himself and walked through the front doors and said "Hi" to the secretary who was in bewilderment because no one in the office even thought Gale got up before noon.

He decided to take the stairs up to level five where his office and Ennelle's office were. He took them two at a time and in a split second he was pushing open the door to the lobby where another secretary was sat at a desk. She, too looked at him strangely but said "Good morning Mr. Hawthorne"

"Morning Detta, Have you seen Ennelle around here anywhere?" He said shortly because he couldn't wait to prove to her he could wake up early and he thought for a second he couldn't wait to see _her _but that was wrong because he didn't even like her.

"Yeah, En went to the training center on floor six" Detta said bored and then followed it up with "You can stay here and wait for her if you want" with a flirty smile.

Gale ignored it and said a "Thanks Det, owe you one!" over his shoulder as he half jogged towards the door.

He pushed open the door and it swung back and hit the wall. He cursed under his breath and took on one more flight of stairs. He shoved open the door and sure enough, there was Ennelle, firing off a gun in one of the aiming practice things. He had never bothered to learn what they were called. She had big, black headphones on to block out the noise and they cause quite a dent in her poufy, curly hair. She was wearing a bit of a more military like outfit than the first day Gale met her but her shoes were the same. The same black, wedge heels, Gale mentally kicked himself just for knowing what a "Wedge heel" was.

He slowly snuck up behind her which probably wasn't a good idea seeing as she was holding a gun but he did it anyway just to surprise or possibly scare her. Scaring someone holding a gun is never a good idea but Gale was so excited to prove to her he wasn't lazy, he just did it. "Boo" He said into her ear very softly and touched her shoulder.

Well of course she went into a tizzy. The gun fired off and the sound rang in Gale's ears as he wasn't wearing headphones like he was supposed to. Her body jerked and the bullet hit the side of the target. She hauled her elbow back and hit Gale right in the stomach. He said "Ow!" and she spun right around to face him.

Well, I say face him. She basically had to get on her tip toes to look at his chest. She looked straight up at him and asked "What. The. Hell. Do. You. Think. You're. Doing?" in the most angry voice Gale had heard her use yet.

"Look! I'm here and I'm early! I thought I'd surprise you. See, I'm not the slacker you think I am!" Gale said somewhat triumphantly and she just glared.

"I don't think you are a slacker and I never did. But I do think you're an idiot because you actually decided that you are going to go SCARE someone who was holding a GUN! That alarm clock must work" she hit him on the arm "How SLEEPY are you?"

Gale looked at her and said smartly "Well, pretty sleepy since "Beepy" came into my life this morning" She hit him again.

"Hey! Stop that! Okay, look, I'm sorry for scaring you! Just calm down! Geez" Gale said with his hands up in the air after he realized she still had the gun grasped firmly in her hand.

"I'm not going to shoot you" She said plainly and put the gun down on the shelf that she was aiming on previously "Good job, you got here before ten. Now, go put on your uniform. Lily will be here in fifteen minutes. We need to start this snare project"

"Fifteen minutes? It's only eight! She shouldn't be here until eight thirty!" Gale wondered why Lily would be coming so early.

"Because, unlike you, Lily actually shows up at work on time and she comes early on Tuesdays to clean her office" Ennelle told him as she walked over to a big storage unit and brought over a work uniform.

She thrust it in his hands and said "Go put this on and wake up! You're always sleepy!"

He smiled because he knew she was surprised he was here this early. He could see it in her eyes. "Alright, and can you tell Detta to stop hitting on me? It's flattering and all but I don't see her that way. Now, if you don't mind, I will go to my office and take a nap after I've got these clothes on. I'm a bit... Sleepy" And with that he walked out the door smiling and she looked like he had just murdered her sister.


	4. Chapter Four: Short

"And these, my fellow lead teammates are the requirements to which our new snare has to fulfill. Any questions?" Ennelle asked Lily and Gale who were huddled around her desk with her, looking over the checklist that Mr. Daskon had emailed her.

"I have one" Lily piped up immediately "How the hell are we going to do this?" she asked with a laugh and Ennelle smiled but Gale still looked like he was thinking hard.

"We could... No, that wouldn't work. Maybe if we... no..." Gale seemed to be talking to himself and making absurd hand gestures.

"Gale, what are you doing?" Ennelle asked him, a bit concerned for his mental well being.

"Trying to figure out if the best place to set the thingimibobber, should it be closer to the whatchamacallit or the thingy over there?" He pointed at a basic sketch he did only a few minutes prior that basically looked like lines and squiggles.

"Sorry, I only speak English and Sarcasm" Lily told him, still laughing and he fought back a smile and pointed out to her what he was talking about.

"I think we should set it from the top" Ennelle informed them of her views when Detta, the secretary came in.

"Ennelle, everyone is in the meeting board waiting! Oh, hi Gale!" She announced and then greeted Gale making sure to elongate the "a" in his name.

Ennelle was angry because she didn't even say anything to Lily and that was kind of rude. I mean, you just don't come into a room with three people on it and only acknowledge two of them. Gale didn't even look up and simply said "Hi Detta" as he continued to wonder where the "thingimibobber" went.

Detta seemed a bit peeved, probably because she expected a bit of a warmer greeting from Gale and gave a bit of a disappointed look before turning on her heels and walking out and probably down to the board room. Gale gave a bit of a sigh before asking "Do you think we should go down there now and tell everyone about the project. I don't think I could handle another "Hi Gaaaaaaaaaaaale". It's annoying really".

I stifled a laugh and so did Lily and he just looked at us disapprovingly before our trio headed down to level three for our meeting. The elevator ride was quick and fast and before we knew it we were down next to the door to the board room when "CRAP! I forgot the papers!" Ennelle said loudly and sighed a bit in frustration "Great..."

Lily looked at her "Well, you're going to have to go get them!" She said happily making sure no hint was made that she could go get them as she didn't want to go all the way back up only to come right back down again.

"Alright, I'll go! Lily, you can stay here" A smile crossed Lily's face "And Gale you're going to have to come up with me to carry the board and the projector. I can't lift it" Ennelle told them and Lily was glad she could stay down and Ennelle was glad she could spend time with Gale.

Wait, no she wasn't. She just wanted Gale to like her like everyone else. Maybe if she could spend even these two minutes alone with him he'd like her more, hopefully. Lily gave them a smile before disappearing into the board room marked "Project Meeting: Ennelle Sedikit, Gale Hawthorne, Lily Hamming" Gale looked at her and plainly asked "Stairs or elevator?"

"Stairs up, Elevator down, so we can carry the stuff easier?" Ennelle answered his question with another question.

"Sure" Gale replied and they started to walk down the hallway towards the stairwell in complete silence.

"So, Beepy works then?" Ennelle asked him right before they reached the door to the steps to break the silence.

"Yeah, he's a _wonderful _addition to my morning routine" Gale said sarcastically and Ennelle just laughed.

"Hey! No need to be so sarcastic! I'm sure he's sweet! Imagine if, instead of beeping he would say 'Good morning Gale! Good morning Gale!' over and over!" Ennelle said still giggling at him.

Something about Beepy just warmed her heart even though he wasn't quite alive. He was just an alarm clock that moved and made noise but she loved it. "I'd probably chuck it out the window if it did that. Hell, I'm considering that option now" Gale said flatly and smiled a bit at the end which made Ennelle even happier now because getting someone to smile is the first step to getting someone to like you.

"No! Don't chuck Beepy! I love him!" Ennelle said, fake pleadingly and laughing.

"You must be pretty freaking alone to love an alarm clock!" Gale said and then he started to laugh too.

"You're laughing! It's a miracle!" Ennelle said happily and mentally checked off the second step in her head.

The second step to getting someone to like you is to make them laugh. Gale smiled a bit as they turned the corner onto another flight of stairs. "What happened to the woman who came in the office the first day and almost made everyone cry just by looking at them?" He asked jokingly.

She went solemn. She stayed silent. "Can we... not talk about my lack of social skills please?" She asked after a while of nothingness and he just said "Uh, yeah sure. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

She cut him off "It's alright, okay?" She said, smiling up at him a bit.

"Yeah, okay" he said, looking down at her and wondering how the hell he was scared of this small woman.

Ennelle was always small. She was about five feet tall, with a small stature except her wider hips. Her hair was still as crazy as it was the first day; blonde curls flying everywhere and in her ears were the same ripple blue earrings. No matter what colour clothes she was wearing. Her hands were small and her arms and legs short. Her wedge heels helped the height issue a bit but not much. Gale towered over her like buildings in a city and a pedestrian walking by. After a few, dense moments of silence Gale plainly said "You're really short"

She looked back up at him, trying to understand before saying "You're really tall. Your point is?" with a hint of confusion in her voice.

"Have you always been so short?" He asked her as he started to climb the stairs at the exact same pace as her.

"Have you always been so tall?" She answered back quickly, clearly making a game out of this and laughing a bit.

"Yes, I've always been tall for my age. Now, have you always been so short?" Gale answered her question and asked her if she had always been short again.

This time though, she decided to answer it "Yeah, I've always been pretty short. My whole family is short. My dad is barely 5'6"" She told him and Gale envisioned a very short family living in a very short house on a very short hill with very short furniture even though he was pretty sure they lived in a normal house.

She wasn't _that _short after all. Gale just said "Your old boyfriends must not have been afraid of him!" and laughed a bit.

She laughed also "Yeah, they weren't. My dad actually liked most of them. Always asking me when I was going to get one. He still is but I ignore it now"

"Interesting" Was all Gale said and they fell into a bit of an awkward silence until Gale decided to break it again "What's it like to be so short?" Gale asked her curiously.

He hadn't been that height since he was in the fourth grade. She smiled and said "Squat down and see for yourself!" and reached up and pushed down on his shoulders.

He laughed his deep laugh and said "Everything looks so different from down here! Oh WOW your eyes are green!" He just noticed how green her eyes were now that his eyes were level to hers.

"I know they are! No one gets to see them much though unless I tilt my head when I look up which I am not going to do!" She told him with a chuckle as he pushed open the soor, straightened up and then held it open for her.

She thanked him and he said no problem as they walked over to her office to retrieve the blue prints and the projector. She wheeled the projector out and down the hall slowly to wait for Gale who was coming behind her carrying a folded up easel under one arm and a few rolled up blue prints under his other. "Wait for me!" he called after her as she click-clocked down the hallway in those wedge heels that let everyone in a five mile radius know she was coming.

"Time waits for no man Gale!" She called back and continued walking down the hallways reminding Gale of a short, crazy haired horse.

"It might not wait for any man but it might wait for you! Slow down!" Gale rang back but when he turned the corner he saw the elevator doors closing with Ennelle inside.

He sprinted for the door and at the last moment stuck his foot in the doors to keep it from closing. He slid on the elevator sideways, looked at Ennelle and asked "Do you know the meaning of the word "wait?""

"No, I don't, please do explain it to me" She said sarcastically and stuck her tongue out childishly at him.

He stuck his tongue out at her back and they had a fairly pleasant, though somewhat quiet journey back down to the third floor for the meeting. The moment they stepped foot in the board room they heard Lily "...And that's how the blonde got hit by a train!" There she goes with her blonde jokes again.

Ennelle coughed a bit and then lifted up a lock of her curly blonde hair making Lily turn a faint pink and the entire table laugh. Ennelle didn't mind the blonde jokes though. She found them to be funny which was good for her because all throughout her life she had trouble laughing at herself sometimes. She gave a subtle giggle and started the meeting.

The meeting was very uneventful. Lily, Ennelle and Gale just explained the new snare, how they'd test it, what kind of animals it'd have to catch, the basics. The board room was silent, with the scratch of a pencil or pen every now and then. It just magnified the awkward moment that was to come.

Ennelle reached slowly for the second blue print. Gale reached slowly for the second blue print. It seemed as though the whole meeting was watching a movie in slow motion as both of their hands went for the thin sheet. In one moment, like the whole world stopped its rotation their hands touched. It was extremely corny. They had touched many times before, a playful hit upside the head, a punch in the arm or even when Ennelle had pushed him down just a mere 30 minutes ago to make him shorter but this was different.

This was way different. He looked at her. She looked at him and for what seemed like an hour but was really only 3 seconds they stared into each other's eyes. Then they looked away and muttered incoherently and it seemed like an air of awkwardness had settled over the board room like a blanket on a cold winter's day. Both of them fell asleep that night to thoughts of "It was nothing. I don't even like them" but they knew, somewhere in the back of their minds, that statement was not true.


	5. Chapter Five: Stuck

It had been two weeks since the dreaded hand incident and Gale Hawthorne was driving home from work in the piss pouring rain. Seriously, if it was raining any harder there'd be little dents in the roof of his car and he was wondering how in the world it wasn't scraping the paint off it. Then he started to notice the car in front of him was slowing down and he thought _Great, at this rate I'll probably be home by midnight_. Then the car in front of him stopped completely and he was forced to stop as well. He hit his head off the steering wheel.

He flicked on the radio just in time to hear "And traffic is backed up for miles on route 322 thanks to a fatal crash near Green Garden Apartments. If you're stuck in that line folks, well, let's just say don't expect to be home for dinner tonight" Gale couldn't listen to anymore and turned it off.

He repeatedly hit his head against the steering wheel before he stopped in fear of getting a bruise right across his forehead when he looked over at the passenger seat. There, unopened, was Katniss and Peeta's wedding invitation. Of course Katniss expected him to take a train all the way out to see her get married even though she broke his heart a mere four years ago. Peeta was a pretty cool guy though and he was glad she was happy but that didn't mean he wasn't a bit upset when he found out they were actually getting married.

He decided to open the invitation so he reached over and grasped the envelope between his fingers. He brought it over to him and ripped open the top of the envelope with his index finger. He hauled out the soft orange piece of paper and read:

_Gale Hawthorne, you are invited to attend the wedding of_

_**Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark**_

_On the fifteenth day of October _

_Wedding Ceremonies will begin at eleven o'clock AM_

_Please return this invitation by October first if you are attending and bringing a date_

_We hope to see you there!_

Date? If Gale was going, who would he bring? Gale has had his fair share of dates since he moved to district two but they never moved past one or two dates with the same girl. He never got serious when anyone and he didn't want to just take some random girl to Katniss and Peeta's wedding since he'd have to go for a whole week. She might turn out to be a complete nightmare. He hit his head against the steering wheel again.

The invitation was pretty though. It was sunset orange with dark green vines outlining the paper. There were soft pink flowers on the vines and the writing was in black, clear cursive font. Peeta always had an eye for design and there's no doubt he designed this invitation. _Girly boy_ Gale thought when his phone vibrated in his pocket sending him into a tizzy.

No, Gale Hawthorne never went into "Tizzies" he just had a... moment of unrest. Yes, a moment of unrest. Anyway he hauled the black phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen. It was a text from Ennelle.

"Hey Gale, I'm stuck in traffic and Lils isn't picking up her phone so... What's up?" Leave it to Ennelle to make Gale feel like last resort. Gale had to remind himself he didn't like her before texting back "I'm stuck in traffic too. I'll be home late so I might come in late to work tomorrow"

Within seconds she texted back "You will come in at normal time tomorrow Gale. I'll be home late too! Um, just curious but what kind of car do you drive?" Why was she curious about what kind of car he had? She had seen it many times around the parking lot so why didn't she find out then? Gale slid down into his chair to get comfortable as he was clearly going to be here for a while and texted "Midnight blue with a license plate 7F7 D9O. Why?"

"Look out your back window" was the short reply she answered with and he looked out of his back window before jumping a bit in surprise.

In the car behind him was a mess of curly blonde hair, green eyes, a smile and a wave. Gale wondered how these kinds of coincidences happen and why they almost always happen to him. Why do they always happen to him? All Gale knew was that his boss who he was still trying to convince himself he didn't like was sitting in the car behind him and texting him and he felt the odd desire to ask her to join him in his car. So, he asked her. He waved back and typed into his phone "Hey, we're going to be here for a while and my passenger seat is free. Care to join me for some company?" and he sent it.

He watched her face read the message before she smiled a bit, opened her door and ran through the rain to Gale's right car door. He unlocked the doors and she jumped in "I haven't seen it rain that hard since... well... ever!" She said trying to flatten down the dampened curls running down her back.

"Me either. And now we're going to be stuck here in traffic for God knows how long and I've set my slow cooker to be done by five and it's 4:56 now so by the time I get home it's going to be overcooked" Gale complained and hit his head off the steering wheel again.

"Don't do that! You're going to get a bruise!" She exclaimed loudly and Gale just looked up at her with a red mark starting to form across his forehead "We have to make the best of it!" She chirped and he groaned.

"How are we supposed to make the best of this scenario?" Gale asked her frustrated and she just said "We could get to know each other better"

"I already know you. Your name is Ennelle Sedikit. Your favourite colour is blue. You like lasagna and Italian food. You're from district four. You didn't have many friends growing up and you always wear vanilla scent even though you're allergic to scents because you like the smell of it" Gale stated a bunch of random facts about Ennelle and found out he retained information about her quite good.

"That was impressive. How did you remember all that about me?" She asked curiously and he just kept going, the words flowing out of his mouth like water out of a fountain "You like white tic tacs though you won't say no to orange ones. You like raspberry chocolates. Your favourite view is when the ocean meets the horizon and stretches out as far as the eye can see. You have a brother and you used to have a dog named Lucky who got hit by a car so I guess he wasn't very lucky. You have impeccable aim though you're not too great in hand to hand combat because of your size. Your dad is 5'6". Your bedroom is painted green. You believe in aliens. You are incredibly loyal and you don't like it when someone you love is angry with you" He took a deep breath at the end "And your IQ is 150"

"Wow" was all she said and she sat back in her chair "How did you know all that?

"I don't know. Some of it you told me. Some of I heard you talking about and I just never forgot it" Gale didn't know what to say either because he also had no clue how he remembered all this.

"Your name is Gale Hawthorne. You are from district twelve. Your favourite colour is dark, forest green. You have two brothers and one sister names Rory, Vick and Posy. You are a good hunter and you like meat. Katniss Everdeen was your best friend and hunting partner even though all of Panem (Including me until last week) thought that she was your cousin. You were whipped once and almost died. You love the scent of forest and wear more musky scented body sprays though they're not... unattractive? You were always popular with the girls. You're smarter than you think you are. Your favourite scent is strawberry or orange and you like listening to music a lot even though you can't sing or play an instrument" Ennelle told Gale all she knew about him and he just smiled "Seems like I'm not the only one with a good memory in this car"

"Nope, I suppose not!" She exclaimed and then they fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence.

"Listen, En, um, well, Katniss and Peeta's wedding is coming up" Gale started but when he paused Ennelle thought he was done so the cut in with "Yes, I've heard! Lots of people are excited but they're only going to have a small wedding, no press allowed"

"Yeah, I know. Well, I'm invited and I have to take a train out for it. She expects me for a whole week since she wants me to help her prepare and she told me on the invitation to bring a date and well... ?" He stumbled out near the end of his sentence.

"What?" was all she asked, clearly confused and wearing a thinking expression.

"Do you want, to go, to the, wedding, with me?" Gale asked her, taking breaths between every two syllables.

Ennelle looked a bit surprised but then she smiled a bit and said "Yeah, sure. I'll go with you"

"Really? Great! You don't mind spending a whole week down there with me?" Gale asked, still unsure if she was being sarcastic or not.

"Yeah! Sure, you'll annoy me like crazy but hey, it'll be an adventure right?" She said jokingly and laughed a little bit.

He smiled and said "You'll annoy me too! But yeah, it should be fun! I'll show you around if you'd like!" He offered and then realized that he would be spending a week with her.

And he didn't mind one bit. It was going to take a while to convince himself he didn't like her tonight. She nodded and said "Sounds like fun! I've only been to districts 4 and 2 before!" She was excited too though she didn't know why.

She just told herself it was because she liked exploring other districts. Yes, that was it. "I think Katniss would like you" Gale said shortly and regretted saying it immediately because he knew what the next question would be.

"Why do you think that?" Yes, she had asked the question he thought she would.

"Because you guys are a lot alike I guess" Gale said softly and diverted his glance away from her because for some reason he couldn't look at her when he said this.

"Do I now?" She asked, a bit confused because she recalled him talking about how he felt about her.

"Yeah, you're both feisty and hardworking and it's just the little things you do that are a lot like her" He told her and he could tell he had said too much already.

Luckily she just shrugged it off and said "Cool, cool" and they fell into another awkward pause when one of the cars started moving a bit far ahead.

"I better get back to my car, I think we're moving" Ennelle told him and he reached back in the back seat and produced a plain, black umbrella "So you don't get wet"

"Thanks" She said nicely "I'll give it back to you tomorrow at work and we can plan out this wedding week some more, okay?" She asked him.

"Sure" Was all he said and she disappeared back out to her car.

She had only slammed the door when the car in front of him started inching forward. Gale was right; he did have a hard time convincing himself he didn't like her last night. That day he was stuck in more ways than one.


End file.
